The Best Street Photography Books

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There is a certain joy that comes with being able to hold something tangible in our hands, especially when it comes to street photography. The internet makes us impatient and eager to click to the next visual stimulation and distraction, but a photo book captures our undivided attention and enables us to appreciate the full depth of an image. Maybe it’s nostalgic, but there’s just something special about seeing a photo in print that seeing it on a screen can’t quite capture. Not only are street photography books a pleasure to look through simply to savor the magic of the moments they capture, they’re also an excellent way to hone your creative eye and analyze the techniques that make talented street shooters’ work so captivating.

For street photographers who want to learn more about the genre and its long history, I recommend picking up a copy of Bystander: A History of Street Photography by Joel Meyerowitz. With both photos and text, this book is a very good written and visual history of street photography.

The World Atlas of Street Photography, by Jackie Higgins with a foreword by Max Kozloff is another interesting title which features 700 images by over 100 photographers from around the world showcasing modern life on the global streets.

The Street Photography Bible by Michael Ernest Sweet is another title that ought to be included in a street photographer’s library. Illustrated with Sweet’s own street photography, this book gives great insight into his experience and techniques that will inspire other photographers to develop their own style and voice.

With images by some of the Magnum photographic cooperative’s members, who also happen to be some of the world’s best and most inspirational street and documentary photographers, Magnum Contact Sheets, Magnum Degrees, Magnum Magnum, and Magnum Stories are all treasure troves of photographic mastery.

Street Photography Now by Sophie Howarth features the work of 46 photographers including Alex Webb, Bruce Gilden, Martin Parr, Siegfried Hansen, Thierry Girard and many more. Beyond being just a collection of well curated street photography images, this book also helps to put their work and aesthetic into context with text, quotes, and essays.

Listed below are 30 of the best street photography books by some of the most influential street photographers working in a wide variety of locations and often with very different aesthetics. While there are hundreds of excellent books featuring the work of street photographers around the world, this sampling (organized alphabetically) is a great place to start your library, whether you are a photographer yourself or simply a collector of photography! Each link will take you to the Amazon listing for that book.